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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23282401">Changeling Child</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiannalover/pseuds/Fiannalover'>Fiannalover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragalia Lost (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Changelings, Chapter 12 Interlude Spoilers, Doubt in own humanity, Doubt in own identity, Fae &amp; Fairies, Gen, Identity Issues</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:02:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>705</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23282401</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiannalover/pseuds/Fiannalover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Amongst the fairies, there remains a group most unusual: The Changelings.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Changeling Child</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>The Changeling</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Amongst the fairies, there remains a group most unusual: The Changelings. Their children replace human ones, for reasons known to none, with none in the household noticing. Some say that they only take stillborn babies. Some say they take those who misbehave. Some say the kidnapped children grow so warped, they become Changelings themselves.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>No matter what, the description of their behavior has common ground: Physically, they’re always a perfect match. However, personality-wise, they’re a most odd presence. Detached from human emotions, the Changelings are a common excuse for children that grew odd, be that oddness obsession with something, flighty behavior that never settles on the ground, fear of strong or nonexistent noises or sights, and even lack of love.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Truly, Changelings carry the weirdness of both the dead and the fair.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Happily asleep on her small bed at Euden’s room, Notte slowly woke up as she noticed that her longtime friend wasn’t replenishing his energies the way she was, even though it was the dead of the night. Stretching herself a bit in order to properly take flight, the fairy leapt from her bed, wondering what was it that happened.</p><p>Fuzzily, still shrugging her sleepiness, she struggled to fly to the desk where Euden was, a lit lamp by his side, and some book in front of him, which he read with simultaneous full attention, and distraction that came from said focus.</p><p>“… Euden, are you still reading that book Aeleen gave us? About fairies and all that junk?” Notte asked, almost grumpily. “You know it is a gift for <em>me</em>, right? I’m the one who should stay up all night reading it, not...” Yawning, she paused, “… you.”</p><p>Snapping out of his trance, the Prince gave an uncharacteristically weird smile to his friend, with a mix of relieved tiredness and concern that she couldn’t quite understand, before explaining, “Sorry for waking you up, Notte. I just grew really interested in some of these stories. This one, in special.”</p><p>Looking at the page that had him to hypnotized, she frowned. “The Changeling?”</p><p>“Yes. I suppose I… Understand it, a bit. An excuse for those who are odd and inhuman-like… I guess that I’ve been called both of these enough for me to wish it to be true.”</p><p>Now with worry on her face, the fae answered, “Euden… The Changeling is just a myth, right? The book itself says so. At least, fairies who COULD do it don’t do anything of the sort, I guess.” Finishing the first of her concerns, she added. “And, besides, it’s not like you’re any of these qualities. For me, and the others, you’re as human as human can get, bucko! AND, that is why you need to get to bed. Now, come on, you need your beauty sleep.”</p><p>With Notte pulling his hair a bit in order to get him to do so, he relented, closing his book and getting up from the chair. Satisfied, she went ahead back to her bed, and, before Euden could extinguish the lamp’s flame and follow her, he found himself lost in a mirror at the desk.</p><p>… His eyes were rather unique, in comparison to his siblings, right?</p><p>His build, too, was remarked to be rather small. But, it was alike Zethia’s, right? So, it was normal, right?</p><p>Should it be like someone else’s? Could he be taller? There was still time to change, right?</p><p>Pinching himself, pulling his cheeks, brow and lips all over the place, Euden felt his face ache and pain as he pictured fading away into something else, something unlike himself. He had already changed some things, in Alberius’ image. To change it more would be difficult, maybe. But it would be closer to humanity, no?</p><p>“Eu-den! Come on, buddy! Don’t make me keep dragging you to sleep!”</p><p>“Alright! Alright, I will, Notte. Don’t worry.”</p><p>And so, he went to sleep.</p><p>As he did so, voices whispered, some great, old and still full of fight, against a war that had yet to end, some weak, frail, like himself whenever he was at death’s door, both with the echos of dragonkind enhancing their song. One so, so familiar, but so foreign.</p><p>
  <em>Change, change, changeling,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Change into something,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>More like me.</em>
</p>
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